Windshield cleaner



Oct. 8. 940- E. c HORTON I WINDSHIELD CLEANER Original Filed Aug.

I INVENTOR Erwm C .Hofion.

1% ATT RNEYS Reissued 0.. s, 1940 WINDSHIELD CLEANER Erwin O. Horton, Hamburg, N. Y., assignor to Trico Products Corporation, Buffalo, N. Y.

Original No. 2,122,797, dated July 5, 1938, Serial No. 38,612, August 30, 1935. Application for reissue December 19, 1939, Serial No. 310,083

11 Claims.

This invention relates to windshield cleaners and particularly to improved means for attaching the wiper blade carrying arm to the motor shaft or other actuating or supporting part.

According to the-invention such shaft or part is provided with an extension with which a part of the wiper arm is engaged. The arm comprises inner and outer sections having an articulated connection including spring means, whereby the section connected to the blade is moved relative to the other section toward the windshield glass. The connection betweenthe extension from the supporting shaft or part and the section of the arm that engages the extension is such that the spring means maintains it substantially rigid, whereby during normal operation the extension and connected arm section move as a unit, although they may be disconnected without the use of spec al tools or implements by manual movement of the parts against the pressure of the spring means. The latter, by reaction of the force urging one arm section toward the windshield glass, retains the articulated connection between the two arm sections, although permitting manual disconnection of the sections.

These and'other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description of the one typical embodiment of the invention shown in the accompanying drawing, wherein: Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a windshield cleaner assembly embodying the invention and mounted upon the header and windshield construction of a vehicle;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of connecting means and adJacent parts; 7

Fig. 3 is a rear view of said connecting means, the shaft appearing in section;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along section line 4-4 of Fig. 2; and,

Fig. 5 is a section taken along section line 5-5 of Fig. 1.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2 a windshield cleaner motor II is mounted upon the header construction I2 above the windshield glass IS, the motor having anangularly oscillatory shaft l4 extending forwardly through a tubular extension II of the motor housing. The forward end of shaft [4 is deformed to provide an arm section com prising radially extending portions l6 and I1 connected by a portion I8 that substantially parallels the end of the shaft proper.

The end of the shaft l4 and the portions l6 and I8 constitute a loop which is snugly received within an elongated'recess 20 formed on the rearward face of a casing section IS. The latter, which is a part of the upper'section of the wiper blade carrying arm of which the lower section or arm proper is designated by numeral 22, has an upper wall 22 adjacent the end of shaft l4, front wall 24 adjacent portion "'0! the shaft extenthe sion, lower wall 25 adjacent portion ll of the shaft extension and lower front wall 28 which is formed to bear upon the forward surface of portion ll of the shaft extension. The front surface of portion 26 has a semi-cylindrical projection 2] with axis of curvature extendingtransversely to and spaced radially from the axis of shaft I 4. Arm proper 22, preferably. formed of sheet metal, has a front wall 28 of which the upper portion 29 is curved to conform to the curvature of projection 21 and is seated thereon. The upper side walls 3|, 3| of arm 22 extend rearwardly fromwall 28, and embrace the side surfaces of shaft extension portion I1 and lower wall 26 of the casing section asshown in Fig. 4.

Secured to arm 22, preferably by clenching thereover side wall portions 22 'of the arm as shown in Fig. 5, is a resilient metal strip or leaf spring 33, the free end of which presses against portion ll of the arm extension. The lower end of arm section 22 and the wiper blade 34 are provided with suitable detachable connection the arm in wiping contact with the windshield glass.

In normal operation of the windshield cleaner the spring 33 coacting with arm section 22 clamps therebetween parts 25 and I7, thereby retaining arm extension parts it and I8 of shaft l4 seated in recess 20 of casing section l9 so that the latter is keyed for movement with the shaft l4. Further, and because the point at whichspring 33 presses against shaft extension portion II is below the axis of cylindrical projection 21, the arm 22 is moved about the latter toward the windshield, i. e., in a counter-clockwise direction as the parts appear in Fig. 2. Thus, the spring, in addition to maintaining the keyed relationship of the shaft I4 and arm section l9, and maintaining the articulated connection'21, 29 between the two arm sections i9, 22, also functions to retain the blade pressed into wiping engagement with the windshield glass. The parts l6, l1 and I8 constitute a part, of the inner arm section mounted on the shaft l4, being secured thereto by being formed integrally therewith. The end of part II constitutes a contact element, mounted upon said inner arm section, engageable by the leaf spring 33. The member 24 constitutes a pivot. part by which the outer arm section 22 is pivoted to the inner arm section at projection 21 which is located between the contact element. v

The arm section 22 may, of course, be readily detached from casing section l8 by moving the portion 29 outwardly against resistance of the spring and thence downwardly, and thereafter section it can be detached from the shaft by simply moving it forwardly. It will be understood shaft l4 and the that the terms "upper, lower, and the like are used herein and in the appended claims for convenience of description alone and not in any restrictive sense, since the windshield cleaner may be mounted in many different angular positions, as, for example, at the lower or side edges of the windshield rather than at the upper edge as illustrated.

' I claim:

l. Ina windshield cleaner, a shaft having a depending projection with forward, upper and lower surfaces; a member detachable'upon said depending projection of the shaft and having surfaces engaging said forward, upper and lower surfaces; a wiper arm having an articulated connection to said member whereby the arm may move about the point of connection toward the windshield, and spring means acting between said projection and arm for urging the latter about its pivot toward the windshield and to retain said-member upon said projection.

2. In a windshield cleaner, a shaft having a;

radial extension, a casing member engaging the outer end of the shaft and said extension to preclude relative movement about the axis of the shaft proper between the casing member and shaft, an arm having an articulated connection to the casing member about an axis transverse to the axis of the shaft proper and spaced therefrom in the direction of extent of said radial extension, and a spring member carried by the arm and engaging a rearward surface of said extension for urging relative movement between the casing and arm about said axis to urge the arm toward thewindshield surface, and to clamp the casing member to said extension.

3. In a windshield cleaner, a shaft having a radial extension adjacent the forward end thereof, a member detachably seated upon the extension' and having surfaces bearing upon aforward, an upper and a lower surface'of said extension, a, wiper arm having an articulated connection to said member for movement relative thereto toward and away from the windshield surface, and a' spring acting between the wiper arm and said extension to urge the wiper arm toward the windshield glass and to clamp the casing member to said extension.

4. In a windshield cleaner, a shaft having at the forward end thereof a projection constituting a pivot and a part extending radially beyond said pivot, an arm having a portion disposed forwardly of and bearingupon said pivot, and a resilient strip having one end secured to the arm and its other end bearing upon a rear face of said part.

5. In a windshield cleaner, a shaft having-at the forward end thereof a projection constituting a pivot and a part extending radially beyond said pivot, an arm having a portion disposed forwardly of and bearing upon said pivot, and a resilientstrip having one end secured to the arm and its other end bearing upon a rear face of said part, the resilient member urging movement of the arm relative to the shaft about said pivot toward the windshield and retaining said portion of the arm bearing pivotally upon said pivot.

6. In a windshield cleaner, a shaft having at the forward end thereof a depending part, a wiper arm having one end bearing upon the forward surface of the depending part at a point above the end thereof, said arm and depending part at said point being formed to constitute an articulated connection when the arm is pressed against said depending part,a leaf spring secured at one end to said arm and having its other end resiliently pressing against the rearward side of said dependency at the end thereof, whereby said articulated connection is maintained and the arm is urged about said connection toward the windshield glass.

'7. In a windshield cleaner, a wiper arm of channel cross-section having bearing means at the upper end thereof for pivotally bearing upon a supporting part, and a leaf spring secured to the arm for bearing against such supporting part for urging the arm about the axis of the bearing toward the windshield, the secured end of the spring being received within the channel of the arm and the side walls of the channel being clenched thereover. i

8. In a windshield cleaner, a shaft having a radially extending part, a casing member detachable from the shaft and engaging the outer end thereof, an arm having an articulated con nection to the casing member for movement relative thereto about an axis transverse to the axis of the shaft, and spring means effective between said arm and said part for urging relative movement between the casing member and arm about the axis of said articulated connection tending to move the arm toward the windshield and' to hold the casing member engaged with the arm.

9. A wiper arm assembly for a windshield cleaner, comprising an inner shaft carried section, an outer wiper carrying section pivotally mounted on the inner section and being of channel cross-section with the side walls of the channel straddling and enclosing a part of the inner section which part projects outwardly beyond the pivotal axis, and aleafspring anchored at one end within the channel and having its opposite end bearing under pressure upon said part to urge the outer end of the outer section toward an associated windshield, said spring and.

said part being housed and concealed by said channel walls.

10. A wiper arm assembly for a windshield cleaner, comprising an inner shaft carried section, an outer wiper carrying section pivotally mounted on the inner section and being of channel cross-section with the side walls of the channel straddling and enclosing a part of the inner section which part projects outwardly beyond the pivotal axis, a leaf spring anchored at one end on the outer section and having its opposite end exerting pressure on said part within the channel, the side walls of the channel'guidingly receiving said opposite end of the spring and supporting the same against lateral displacement within the channel to urge the outer end portion of the outer section-toward an associated windshield, said part being interposed between the leaf spring and the bottom wall of the channel.

' ERWIN c. HORTON. 

